Hit by the worst recent drought, Catalonia is immersed in an intense debate about water management. What is there to do? or what was not done at the time? They are recurring questions that encourage public debate internally. Yesterday, the Agricultural Institute, the association of agricultural companies, opened the spotlight. With the support of Foment del Treball, he dedicated a few days to bringing together international experts who explained the experiences of their respective territories.
The first to take the stage at the Foment headquarters was Itamar Glazer, a professor at the Hebrew University in the Faculty of Sciences and scientific director of the Volcani Institute, Israel's main agricultural innovation center. Glacer related that one of the “first big decisions” after the creation of the State was to create “a channel from the north to the south” of the country, overcoming the differences between the availability of water between territories. In the room, a very topical debate in Catalonia was recalled: the connection, currently frustrated, between the Ebro network and that of the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
The Israeli professor explained that there, from the beginning, they realized that “water was key to the future of the country.” In 1959 they legislated to “nationalize water.” A regulatory framework that, since then, “has not changed” and has generated stability. It is a single state company owned by the Government that controls the most precious liquid, although each municipality is later responsible for channeling and charging for consumption. “Water consumption is calculated and controlled by satellite through a sophisticated system. “If there is a leak or a problem, they let you know,” he said.
Glacer explained that there is an important cultural factor in saving water that is encouraged in schools and boasted of a large network of emerging companies dedicated to the agricultural field that also work for better water management.
Alvar Escrivá-Bou, associate member of the Water Policy Center of the Public Policy Institute of California, noted that in that corner of the United States the “water market is essential” since it manages to “give it value” in an environment with rights over water very different from those here.
There they are working on plans to recharge the aquifers. “They have been pulled so much that the ground is sinking,” she described. However, the Valencian, settling on American soil, acknowledged that “even though it is hard, in California agricultural land will have to be reduced.”
The event not only brought together professionals working abroad. “25% of the water consumed in the metropolitan area of Barcelona is already regenerated,” defended Narciso Berberana, director of sustainability, decarbonization and regeneration of resources at Agbar.
The industrial engineer assured that “the proportion of water use for irrigation will decrease” in the coming years, while other activities such as energy generation or new technological systems will increase.
In the presentation of the day, Baldiri Ros, president of the Agricultural Institute, stressed that “structural and not cyclical solutions” to the drought are needed. The vice president of Foment also opted for having a "single regulator" and for "public-private collaboration."
For his part, the president of Foment, Josep Sánchez Llibre, once again defended the connection between Barcelona and the Ebro, and highlighted the "great lack of political strategy" after a decade of "non-existent investments."
